Gospel Principles Chapter 2

Chapter 2 is entitled, "Our Heavenly Family." Family is such a basic unit of society. Joseph F. Smith teaches us, "Man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents, and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father, prior to coming upon the earth in a temporal [physical] body”(Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith [1998], 335). That makes us all brothers and sisters, spiritually anyway. Just like on Earth, we were all different in our pre-earth state. "A veil covers our memories of our premortal life, but our Father in Heaven knows who we are and what we did before we came here. He has chosen the time and place for each of us to be born so we can learn the lessons we personally need and do the most good with our individual talents and personalities" (Gospel Principles, 10). While we were in our premortal life, we sat down with Heavenly Father and we talked about what was going to happen to us. He told us that we would leave his presence, and we would come to this earth. We were also told that we would have to do some things in our lives to show our Heavenly Father that we really wanted to come back to live with him once more. We learned that we would go through trials, and if we allowed them to they would purify us rather than defeat us. "They would teach us to have endurance, patience, and charity" (Gospel Principles, 11). And finally, that last thing we learned is that we were all going to make mistakes by our nature, and that a Savior was going to be provided for us. He would overcome all things that needed to be overcome, namely death and sin. Jesus Christ was chosen at that time to be our Savior and Redeemer.

The Articles of Faith part 2 of 13

Article of Faith #2, "We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression."

This is a very significant statement about the Atonement of Christ. This statement is saying that we don't believe in "original sin," and so little children are the only people perfect on this earth, besides Jesus Christ. We believe that we are responsible for our own actions and sins. Adam definitely brought sin into the world, but it's not because of him that we sin. God gave us all our own agency to choose whether or not we were going to follow his commandments. The Atonement covered that original sin and we are able to repent and be forgiven of those things that we do wrong.This also has to do with when we believe people should be baptized, which is at the age of 8 years old. It says in the Bible, " For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us...." (1 Peter 3:18-21) This is saying that after Christ was crucified, he went to the spirits in prison and taught them. It also says that he taught those who were once disobedient and when Noah was saved only 8 were saved with him, which is the same number that saves us now when we are baptized. So we should be baptized at age 8. Also in modern revelation, "And their children shall be baptized for the remission of their sins when eight years old, and receive the laying on of hands." (Doctrine and Covenants 68:27) We are responsible for our own actions and sins. The Atonement of Jesus Christ covers all. I know that is it real and that it works, all we have to do is apply it to our own lives.